Latest from Energyhttp://barentsobserver.com/en/taxonomy/termok/13
enU.S. cancels Arctic offshore lease salehttp://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/10/us-cancels-arctic-offshore-lease-sale-16-10
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<div class="field-item even"><p>The U.S. Interior Department cancels two future offshore leases in Chukchi and Beaufort seas and will refuse requests from oil companies to renew existing leases.</p>
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<div class="field-item even" property="rnews:articlebody schema:articleBody"><p>Following Shell’s decision a few weeks back to <a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/09/shell-abandons-oil-exploration-arctic-ocean-28-09">cease further exploration activity</a> in offshore Alaska for the foreseeable future, President Obama’s administration on Friday announced that it was cancelling government auctions of drilling rights in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, previously scheduled for 2016 and 2017.</p>
<p>“In light of Shell’s announcement, the amount of acreage already under lease and current market conditions, it does not make sense to prepare for lease sales in the Arctic in the next year and a half,” said Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell in a <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-cancels-arctic-offshore-lease-sales">statement</a>.</p>
<p>At the same time, the announcement formally rejected bids by Statoil and Shell for more time to search for crude under their existing Arctic leases. The two companies had requested lease suspensions, which would have allowed the companies to retain the leases beyond their primary terms of ten years. &nbsp;The leases will expire in 2017 (Beaufort) and 2020 (Chukchi). &nbsp;</p>
<p>Offshore drilling advocates have argued that existing coastal oil and gas leases &nbsp;-&nbsp;with initial terms capped at 10 years -&nbsp;are not well suited for the Arctic, where exploration is confined to about three ice-free months each year.</p>
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</div><span property="rnews:name schema:name" content="U.S. cancels Arctic offshore lease sale" class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span>Fri, 16 Oct 2015 21:36:04 +0000Trude Pettersen29518 at http://barentsobserver.comModernization of Prirazlomnaya will fivefold oil productionhttp://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/10/modernization-prirazlomnaya-will-fivefold-oil-production-12-10
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<div class="field-item even"><p>A planned modernization of Gazprom´s Prirazlomnya platform will increase production capacity from 22,000 tons to 100,000 tons per day.</p>
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<div class="field-item even" property="rnews:articlebody schema:articleBody"><p>The Russian institute “Omskneftekhimproekt” won a tender that the Russian oil and gas major Gazprom announced last year on the Prirazlomnaya platform in the Pechora Sea. The main objectives for the modernization were recently presented by the project´s chief engineer Vyacheslav Rovensky, <a href="http://tass.ru/sibir-news/2324611">TASS</a> writes.</p>
<p>The planned works include the drilling installations, energy and technological equipment, as well as systems for automatic safety control, navigational systems, and radio and telecommunications systems.</p>
<p>&nbsp;“This means that we will reach a projected level of 100,000 tons per day, ensuring a non-stop process of drilling, production and transport of oil in an amount of 5.5-6 million tons annually,” Rovensky said, adding that this will bring many new orders to Russian companies.</p>
<p>Russia´s oil and gas sector is struggling with progress and security in shelf developments as deficiency in spare parts and drilling rigs becomes evident. As much as 68 percent of the technical equipment needed by the industry is now subjected to sanctions. According to the Russian Ministry of Energy, Russian companies might lack as many as 150,000 components needed for offshore platforms by year 2020, <a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/09/offshore-oil-feels-pain-spare-parts-come-short-18-09">BarentsObserver</a> reported.</p>
<p>The modernization has a price tag of up 3 billion roubles (€ 43.2 million), according to TASS.</p>
<p>Since start of production in December 2013, the Prirazlomnaya platform has produced <a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/08/second-well-production-prirazlomnoye-21-08">more than 4.3 million barrels of crude oil.</a> Field reserves are estimated to about 72 million tons of oil and peak production of five million tons is planned for about 2020.&nbsp;</p>
<p>As previously reported, Prirazlomnoye is the&nbsp;<a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2014/11/third-shipment-prirazlomnoye-oil-delivered-europe-18-11">world’s first project involving oil extraction on the Arctic shelf using a stationary platform</a>. The field platform received the world’s attention in September 2013, when two journalists and 28 activists from Greenpeace, later dubbed “the Arctic 30”, were arrested and imprisoned in Murmansk for over two months following&nbsp;<a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2013/09/25-greeenpeace-activists-arrested-arctic-protest-20-09">a protest against Arctic drilling</a>.&nbsp;</p>
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</div><span property="rnews:name schema:name" content="Modernization of Prirazlomnaya will fivefold oil production" class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span>Sun, 11 Oct 2015 22:35:49 +0000Trude Pettersen29476 at http://barentsobserver.comGazprom prepares new Arctic terminalhttp://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/10/gazprom-prepares-new-arctic-terminal-05-10
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<div class="field-item even"><p>The Novy Port will be ready for export of two million tons of oil in 2016.</p>
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<div class="field-item even" property="rnews:articlebody schema:articleBody"><p>Gazprom Neft, the oil subsidiary of Gazprom, has completed the installation of the main terminal facility at its Novy Port project in the Ob Bay.</p>
<p>The more than 80 meter high terminal facility, which now is installed in the waters off the Yamal coast, will have capacity for annual year-round handling of 8,5 million tons of oil, Gazprom-Neft informs in a <a href="http://www.gazprom-neft.ru/press-center/news/1109012/" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p>
<p>It was the heavy weight crane ship ”Oleg Strashnov” which in late September lifted the terminal in place.</p>
<p>The terminal will be connected with a 10,5 km long pipeline to Cape Kamenny, the&nbsp;project infrastructure hub on the coast of the Yamal Peninsula.</p>
<p>As previously reproted, Gazprom Neft&nbsp;in early 2015 started the laying of <a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/01/more-oil-aiming-arctic-waters-19-01">a second pipeline from the field production site in the Yamal Peninsula to Cape Kamenny</a>, the project sea port and terminal along the Ob Bay. The pipeline will be 105 km long and have a 5,5 million ton capacity. It will be placed on special support pillars able to withstand a possible future melting of the surrounding permafrost tundra.</p>
<p>Gazprom Neft intends to complete all project preparatory measures in the course of 2015 and subsequently boost production in 2016. Production will be increased from 2 million tons in 2016 to four million tons in 2017, the company says</p>
<p>As previously reported, Gazprom Neft intends to send the Novoportovskoye oil both eastwards along the Northern Sea Route and westwards towards European consumers.</p>
<p>The Novoportovskoye field holds as estimated 250 million tons of oil and 320 billion cubic meters of gas.</p>
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</div><span property="rnews:name schema:name" content="Gazprom prepares new Arctic terminal" class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span>Sun, 04 Oct 2015 23:05:58 +0000Atle Staalesen29447 at http://barentsobserver.comNew pipeline connects Arctic with Europehttp://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/09/new-pipeline-connects-arctic-europe-30-09
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<div class="field-item even"><p>The last pipe has been laid at the 482 km long Polarled Pipeline, the first Norwegian pipeline stretching north of the Arctic Circle.</p>
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<div class="field-item even" property="rnews:articlebody schema:articleBody"><p>The new piece of underwater infrastructure will connect the Aasta Hansteen field in the Norwegian Sea with the Nyhamna gas processing facility on the Norwegian west coast.</p>
<p>The pipeline consists of more than 40,000 pipes, Statoil informs in a <a href="http://www.statoil.com/en/NewsAndMedia/News/2015/Pages/29Sep_Polarled.aspx" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p>
<p>When in operation, presumably in 2017, the pipeline will be able to handle all the gas produced at the Aasta Hansteen, as well as several surrounding fields. The Aasta Hansteen holds about 47 billion cubic meters of gas. Statoil has made several more nearby discoveries, among them at the <a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/03/more-arctic-gas-europe-18-03">Snefrid Nord field</a>.</p>
<p>The pipeline’s capacity will be up to 70 million standard cubic metres of gas per day, Statoil informs.</p>
<p>The Polarled Pipeline has a diameter of 36 inches and is laid at depths down to 1260 meters. The project investment cost is estimated to about NOK 7.5 billion, a more than 30 percent reduction compared with original budget estimates, the Norwegian energy company&nbsp;says.</p>
<p>“With this pipeline, we open up for the export of gas to Europe from a completely new area, and with the infrastructure in place it will also be more attractive to explore the area,” says Torger Rød, head of projects in Statoil.</p>
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</div><span property="rnews:name schema:name" content="New pipeline connects Arctic with Europe" class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span>Wed, 30 Sep 2015 15:01:54 +0000Atle Staalesen29433 at http://barentsobserver.comMade in China for Russian shelfhttp://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/09/made-china-russian-shelf-29-09
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<div class="field-item even"><p>Chinese companies will provide a lion’s share of the technology needed for Russian offshore energy projects, the government plans.</p>
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<div class="field-item even" property="rnews:articlebody schema:articleBody"><p>In an interview with newspaper <a href="http://www.vedomosti.ru/business/characters/2015/09/24/609996-oborudovanie-v-rossii" target="_blank">Vedomosti</a>, Russian Minister of Natural Resources Sergey Donskoy confirms that Chinese companies will be given a key role in the development of the Russian Arctic shelf.</p>
<p>”China can on a massive scale and sufficiently quickly produce the equipment needed”, Donskoy says. He admits that parts of the Chinese equipment are copies of analogue components made elsewhere.</p>
<p>However, Donskoy stresses that the Chinese companies will have to produce the technology in Russia.</p>
<p>”Russia will develop cooperation with Chinese companies, but the equipment must be produced here, in Russia, with domestic capacities”, the minister says to Vedomosti.</p>
<p>Donskoy also argues that the sanctions imposed by western countries also has a positive effect on the Russian industry. ”As a matter of fact, this gives us an opportunity to implement the shelf projects the way they orginally were planned; as a strategic project which has synergetic effects in the territorial development of the Arctic”, he says.</p>
<p>As previously reported, as much as <a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/09/offshore-oil-feels-pain-spare-parts-come-short-18-09">68 percent of the technical equipment</a> needed by the Russian offshore oil and gas industry is now subjected to sanctions and consequently out of reach for the Russian drillmen.</p>
<p>Russia today has offshore production off Sakhalin in the Russian far east and at the Prirazlomnoye field in the Pechora Sea. In the latter project, Russian-made equipment accounts for an estimated 10 percent of the platform construction.</p>
<p>When it comes to shelf exploration, Russia produces less than one percent of the equipment needed.</p>
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</div><span property="rnews:name schema:name" content="Made in China for Russian shelf" class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span>Tue, 29 Sep 2015 13:06:15 +0000Atle Staalesen29427 at http://barentsobserver.comShell abandons oil exploration in Arctic Oceanhttp://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/09/shell-abandons-oil-exploration-arctic-ocean-28-09
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<div class="field-item even"><p>Results of its multi-billion dollar efforts in the Chukchi Sea have been “clearly disappointing,” states the oil giant.</p>
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<div class="field-item even" property="rnews:articlebody schema:articleBody"><p>Shell Oil announced on Monday that the firm will cease exploratory drilling in Alaska&#8217;s Chukchi Sea “for the foreseeable future.”</p>
<p>The firm said it detected signs of oil and gas in the lease area—known as the Burger prospect&nbsp;and located about 135 kilometers northwest of the coastal town of Wainwright.</p>
<p>But “these are not sufficient to warrant further exploration” of the area, Shell said in <a href="http://www.shell.com/global/aboutshell/media/news-and-media-releases/2015/shell-updates-on-alaska-exploration.html">a statement</a>, given the high cost&nbsp;of the project as well as “challenging and unpredictable federal regulatory environment in offshore Alaska.”</p>
<p>Shell has sunk roughly $7 billion&nbsp;over seven years into achieving a major oil strike in the Arctic Ocean.&nbsp;</p>
<p>This year&#8217;s operations were sited just 90 kilometers southwest of Hanna Shoal, a biological hotspot that the Obama administration has made off-limits to oil and gas exploration, and 725 kilometers west of the U.S. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.</p>
<p>Shell&#8217;s announcement came just as it hit the deadline to wrap up its 2015 operations in the Chukchi Sea under permit terms set by the U.S. Department of Interior&#8217;s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.</p>
<p>The agency toughened safety requirements for Shell&#8217;s Arctic Ocean oil exploration&nbsp;in response to the&nbsp;equipment failures, marine accidents, and violations of environmental protection rules that dogged Shell&#8217;s 2012 Arctic drilling season; as well as the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.</p>
<p>Shell&#8217;s announcement also came&nbsp;on further dips in the global price of oil, which has dropped about half in the past year on slow global economic growth and a supply glut.</p>
<p>Shell&#8217;s Arctic Ocean goals have been controversial in the United States. Protestors attempted to blockade Shell&#8217;s Arctic-bound vessels in Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon earlier in the year. Some conservation groups have castigated President Obama for allowing Arctic Ocean oil drilling to proceed, saying the approvals undercut Obama&#8217;s own policies and promises to combat climate change.</p>
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</div><span property="rnews:name schema:name" content="Shell abandons oil exploration in Arctic Ocean" class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span>Mon, 28 Sep 2015 10:46:41 +0000Emily Gertz29422 at http://barentsobserver.comGiants fight over Murmanskoyehttp://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/09/giants-fight-over-murmanskoye-25-09
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<div class="field-item even"><p>Both Gazprom and Rosneft want the license to the Murmanskoye field in the Barents Sea.&nbsp;</p>
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<div class="field-item even" property="rnews:articlebody schema:articleBody"><p>The scene is set for another Arctic power battle between Russia’s two leading energy companies as they both sign up for the license to the Murmanskoye field.</p>
<p>In an interview with newspaper <a href="http://www.vedomosti.ru/business/characters/2015/09/24/609996-oborudovanie-v-rossii" target="_blank">Vedomosti</a>, Natural Resource Minister Sergey Donskoy confirms that the federal government has not yet decided which which of the two companies will get the license. He reiterates however that the main rule is that Gazprom gets licenses to gas fields while Rosneft gets the oil fields.</p>
<p>Until now, the Murmanskoye has been considered first of all a gas field. Estimates indicate gas resources of up to 120 billion cubic meters. As previously reported, the regional government in Murmansk has seen the field resources as a <a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2014/04/rosneft-looks-murmansk-gas-field-23-04" target="_blank">possible source of heating energy</a> and power for new industrial initiatives.</p>
<p>The structure is located about 220 km off the coast of the Kola Peninsula.</p>
<p>In the interview, Donskoy also confirms that his ministry has granted relaxed terms in 13 Arctic offshore licenses, five of them for Gazprom and eight for Rosneft, following the introduction of western sanctions. The minister does not want to comment on whether the Pobeda field in the Kara Sea is among the ones with new terms.</p>
<p>Rosneft was originally to conduct a second drilling operation at the University-1 (Pobeda) field in 2015. However, that <a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/01/rosneft-will-not-resume-drilling-kara-sea-2015-30-01">operation was postponed</a>. The company in 2014 completed a <a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2014/09/discovers-kara-sea-oil-week-sanctions-hit-29-09">historical drilling operation</a> at the structure, which lead to the discovery of more than 130 million tons of oil. The drilling was part of a comprehensive partnership agreement with ExxonMobil.</p>
<p>BarentsObserver previously reported about a <a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/06/rosneft-buys-time-arctic-15-06">three-year time extension</a> in seven of its offshore Arctic licenses.</p>
<p>While Rosneft has 50 licenses to offshore Arctic fields, Gazprom has about 40.</p>
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<figcaption>The Murmanskoye field</figcaption><br />
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</div><span property="rnews:name schema:name" content="Giants fight over Murmanskoye" class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span>Fri, 25 Sep 2015 13:51:09 +0000Atle Staalesen29416 at http://barentsobserver.comOffshore oil feels pain as spare parts come short http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/09/offshore-oil-feels-pain-spare-parts-come-short-18-09
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<div class="field-item even"><p>Security at Russian offshore installations is at risk as oil companies are unable to get hold of needed spare parts.&nbsp;</p>
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<div class="field-item even" property="rnews:articlebody schema:articleBody"><p>The Russian Ministry of Energy is openly expressing concern about security and progress in shelf development as deficiency in spare parts and drilling rigs becomes evident.</p>
<p>According to the ministry, Russian companies might lack as many as 150,000 components needed for offshore platforms by year 2020, newspaper <a href="http://kommersant.ru/doc/2811635" target="_blank">Kommersant</a> reports.</p>
<p>That could seriously hamper progress in field development plans, but also compromise security&nbsp;at existing projects.</p>
<p>According to the newspaper, 68 percent of the technical equipment needed by the industry is now subjected to sanctions and consequently out of reach for the Russian drillmen.</p>
<p>Russia needs 20 drilling rigs and platforms in order to be able to follow up their licenses, the energy ministry says. Companies Rosneft and Gazprom are now both applying for adjusted license terms in their offshore projects.</p>
<p>Russia today has offshore production off Sakhalin in the Russian far east and at the Prirazlomnoye field in the Pechora Sea. In the latter project, Russian-made equipment accounts for an estimated 10 percent of the platform construction.</p>
<p>When it comes to shelf exploration, Russia produces less than one percent of the equipment needed, Kommersant writes.</p>
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</div><span property="rnews:name schema:name" content="Offshore oil feels pain as spare parts come short " class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span>Fri, 18 Sep 2015 14:07:56 +0000Atle Staalesen29382 at http://barentsobserver.comGas bigger than oilhttp://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/09/gas-bigger-oil-18-09
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<div class="field-item even"><p>For the first time, Norway’s gas exports is now worth more than its exports of oil.</p>
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<div class="field-item even" property="rnews:articlebody schema:articleBody"><p>Natural gas is now Norway’s largest export product. In course of the twelve last months, Norway has exported natural gas for NOK 232 billion (€25.2 billion) and oil for NOK 216 billion (€23.4 billion), <a href="http://www.nrk.no/finnmark/norge-tjener-na-mer-pa-gass-enn-olje-1.12558365">NRK</a> writes, citing Dagens Næringsliv.</p>
<p>The reason for this is tied to the sharp fall in oil prices, which has also led to job losses and the shutdown of the only oil company headquarter located in Northern Norway.</p>
<p>&nbsp;“I hadn’t believed revenues from gas would be higher than oil, to be honest,” Thina M. Saltvedt, oil analyst at Nordea, told <a href="http://www.dn.no/nyheter/energi/2015/09/16/2149/Olje-og-gass/tjener-mer-p-gass-enn-olje">Dagens Næringsliv</a>. “It has occurred surprisingly fast. And it’s almost entirely because of price. No one expected the price of oil would fall so much and keep lying down there.”</p>
<p><strong>North Energy moves out of the north</strong><br />
The only oil company based with a head office in the Barents Region, North Energy, has had to adopt extensive reductions including closing of offices and reducing operating costs.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, the company moved its headquarter from Alta in Norway’s northernmost county to Tromsø, and this week it was decided to close the office in Tromsø, as well as another office in Stavanger, and move the whole administration to Oslo.</p>
<p>One year ago, North Energy had 43 employees, half of them working in Alta. The company has now cut down the work force to only 25 people.</p>
<p>“We can’t any longer defend today’s situation having several offices. We have therefore decided to co-locate all activities in Oslo. This will implicate further cuts in staff,” Head of the board Anders Onarheim says according to <a href="http://www.sysla.no/2015/09/16/oljeenergi/north-energy-legger-ned-i-stavanger-og-tromso_61382/">Sysla.no</a>.</p>
<p>North Energy has a special focus on participating in developments in the northern part of the Norwegian continental shelf; the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea.&nbsp;The company has not yet had any commercial success, and posted a net loss of NOK 23 million (€3.7 million) for the second quarter of 2015, the company says in a <a href="http://www.northenergy.no/en/news/492-second-quarter-of-2015-further-market-adaptations-after-disappointing-exploration-wells">press release</a>.&nbsp;</p>
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</div><span property="rnews:name schema:name" content="Gas bigger than oil" class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span>Fri, 18 Sep 2015 10:18:07 +0000Trude Pettersen29379 at http://barentsobserver.comNorway, Russia sign deal on nuclear accidentshttp://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2015/09/norway-russia-sign-deal-nuclear-accidents-16-09
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<div class="field-item even"><p>Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority and Rosatom have signed a set of joint notification procedures in case of nuclear incidents.</p>
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<div class="field-item even" property="rnews:articlebody schema:articleBody"><p>“This is a new confirmation that the nuclear cooperation between Norway and Russia is based on mutual trust. The agreement ensures rapid exchange of information on nuclear incidents and is an important milestone in our cooperation with Russia,” Director of Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA) Ole Harbitz says.</p>
<p>The notification procedures were signed by Harbitz and Director of Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko during a meeting at a General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on Tuesday, NRPA’s <a href="http://www.nrpa.no/nyheter/92575/prosedyrer-for-atomvarsling-mellom-norge-og-russland-paa-plass">website</a> reads.</p>
<p>In recent years the two countries have worked to strengthen the joint notification agreement on nuclear accidents of 1993 through concrete procedures for notification.&nbsp;The procedures that are now ready, have involved several authorities on the Russian side. They should ensure early notification in the event of a nuclear incident, which is crucial for Norway’s emergency preparedness.</p>
<p>Nuclear incidents include both accidents and&nbsp;incidents in peacetime or security crisis and war.</p>
<p>The agreement includes Kola Nuclear Power Plant, Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant, ship reactors, storages of fresh and spent fuel, research reactors and other nuclear facilities in the whole of Norway, as well as in the 300-kilometer border area in Russia, website <a href="http://advis.ru/php/view_news.php?id=E87B1166-0FF6-264D-B110-9922BFB95A20">advis.ru</a> writes.</p>
<p>Norwegian radiation authorities have regularly been invited as an observer at Russian nuclear exercises. There will now be more such exercises, and more regular information exchange where the new procedures will be tested out.</p>
<p>Norway has established a permanent preparedness to handle nuclear incidents, with its own round-the-clock emergency service for notification of nuclear incidents nationally and internationally.</p>
<p>There have been several blazes at Russian shipyards in recent years whilst nuclear-powered submarines have been under repair.</p>
<p>2011 saw&nbsp;<a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/spotlights/submarine-fire">a serious fire</a>&nbsp;occur aboard the Delta-class nuclear submarine the&nbsp;<em>Yekaterinburg</em>&nbsp;while she was dry docked at a shipyard in the northwestern Russia Murmansk Region. NRPA was informed about the fire through media, and better information exchange has since then been on the agenda.</p>
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</div><span property="rnews:name schema:name" content="Norway, Russia sign deal on nuclear accidents" class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span>Wed, 16 Sep 2015 13:40:04 +0000Trude Pettersen29361 at http://barentsobserver.com